Suffolk resident appointed chief of MTA police department

A top cop from Suffolk County has been tapped to lead the MTA’s police force.

Owen J. Monaghan, 57, has been appointed as the new chief of police at the transit agency’s Police Department, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Wednesday. Monaghan, who’s originally from Crown Heights, joined the MTA in 2015 as the vice president of security for the MTA-New York City Transit. His appointment was effective as of Jan. 7.

Monaghan has succeeded Chief Michael R. Coan, the longest-serving police chief in department history who lead the MTA Police for more than eight years. Before joining the MTA, Monaghan spent more than three decades at the New York City Police Department, where he held several senior leadership positions.

A graduate of Columbia University’s Police Management Institute as well as Marist College, where he received his master’s in degree public administration, Monaghan will be in charge with overseeing the police that patrol facilities of the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Staten Island Railway.